Smart objects that blend fashion and our everyday lives will kill off the internet of things in 2015, according to Cedric Hutchings, CEO of Withings. The French company, best known for its smart scales and sensor-packed watches, is now targeting fashion over traditional tech in a bid to expand its business.
Speaking at Le Web 2014 in Paris, Hutchings said the smart devices of the future would be integrated into "dumb" objects we already take for granted: "Wearables need not to be 'dropables'. We have to fix the shortcomings of these devices to appeal to more people," he said.
Examples of such un-droppable, useful objects were given by David Rose, a researcher at MIT's media labs and CEO of Ditto Labs. Rose said that umbrellas that flash a light when rain is forecast and doorbells that ring differently when it is someone you know as opposed to a stranger were examples of what he called "enchanted objects".
Giving another example he said that engineers had been working to create a wallet with a smart hinge that makes it more difficult to open if the owner has spent too much of their monthly budget.
But Hutchings had a word of caution for technology companies looking to become lifestyle brands, especially when it isn't immediately obvious what a smart or connected object does: "We are still in a very innovation-driven market and a type of product that people need to be educated about. It does not shout out, the sophistication and the sensor part."
His view that smart devices will be better integrated into our daily lives was shared by Stephane Marceau CEO of Omsignal. His company, which makes smart clothing such as fitness tracking shirts, has already partnered with Ralph Lauren to integrate sensor technology into fashion.
"You've got to time this right. A lot of these technologies are just about to come to maturity," he said. "Clothing is the most universal behaviour. It is the one type of wearable form factor that you've been wearing your whole life. Textile is a very valuable form factor when it comes to wearable -- it is malleable."
His view that smart devices will be better integrated into our daily lives was shared by Stephane Marceau CEO of Omsignal. His company, which makes smart clothing such as fitness tracking shirts, has already partnered with Ralph Lauren to integrate sensor technology into fashion.
"You've got to time this right. A lot of these technologies are just about to come to maturity," he said. "Clothing is the most universal behaviour. It is the one type of wearable form factor that you've been wearing your whole life. Textile is a very valuable form factor when it comes to wearable -- it is malleable."
